


today’s (just a number)

by stardustgirl



Series: Rebels Oneshots [69]
Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Allomancy, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Bittersweet, Character Study, Drabble Collection, Father-Daughter Relationship, Feelstember, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Medium Angst, Mistborn AU, Oneshot collection, POV Female Character, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Phoenix Nest Discord, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-05-02 04:46:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: Sometimes, being an Allomancer isn’t always enough.  A series of unrelated oneshots and drabbles, not chronological, from the Mistborn AU.(You don’t necessarily have to have read Mistborn to read this!)





	1. i never had nobody

**Author's Note:**

> Title from “Today” by Griffin Boucher.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabine makes her decision.
> 
> (Prompt from the Rebels Discord: page 157 of _Mistborn: The Final Empire,_ quote: “My crew relies on trust. That means no coercions....If you want out, we can go back to Luthadel right now.”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Someone To You” by BANNERS.

“You could always go back.  I can show you the way back, if you want.  Or if you wanted a fresh start elsewhere, like outside Luthadel, or—“

She shakes her head quickly.  Kanan pauses, raising a brow as he leans against the wall only a foot away.  It takes Sabine a moment to find her voice, but when she does, it’s assertive, more firm.  More confident in herself and her decision than she’s ever been.

“No.  I– I want to stay here.  With all of you.” They’re all silent for a long minute before Kanan finally smiles, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

“Welcome to the crew.”


	2. can’t fight the wind (when it’s blowing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezra pays for his earlier actions.
> 
> Prompt fill for “Attacked in Their Sleep” from the Bad Things Happen Tumblr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Don’t Ever Let Em” by Fitz and the Tantrums.
> 
> TW: Blood Warning, Abuse

It’s a sort of odd noise that wakes Ezra at first, almost like a tapping but not quite.  He ignores it, rolling over on the blanket.

Only moments later, pain explodes in his side.

He rolls over, already pushing himself to his feet when he feels a hand on his collar just before his face smashes into the stone.  He cries out, scrabbling for purchase or a weapon or  _ something _ to give him an advantage as a knife blade presses against the side of his neck.  “Stay  _ quiet. _ ”

Talmoor kneels above him, one hand on the small of his back.  Ezra knows better than to try and hit him, and his brother knows that he knows that.

But that doesn’t mean that he can’t talk.

“What’s this about?!” he mutters into the stone, ignoring the blood leaking from his nose.

Talmoor’s voice is a growl as he speaks, adjusting his grip on the knife and pressing down harder on Ezra’s back.  “You  _ distracted her _ and threw a  _ metal bar _ at my  _ head— _ “

“Who, Em-whatever?  This is all about some  _ girl? _  Kriff, I don’t even remember her  _ name! _ ”

“You don’t have to!  She remembers  _ you _ well enough.”  The knife touches Ezra’s skin and he freezes.  Swallows. Exhales.

“Look, Talmoor.”  The knife cuts into his skin and he feels the hot bead of blood drip from the cut.  He sucks in a breath, hesitating before continuing in the same low, even tone.

“ _ Young master. _  I...I genuinely didn’t mean to ‘distract her’ or– or whatever you think I was doing, okay?  I’m not interested in her. In any of the ones you’ve courted. Prom _ is— _ “

He’s cut off by a cry of pain and already regrets his previous implication regarding his brother’s ability to find a wife.  There’s a thin, thin trail of blood now, and he can barely breathe as his brother continues to press him into the stone.

“You’re one to talk,” Talmoor spits into his ear, leaning over to hiss directly into it.  “Son of a skaa and a nobleman. Do you know what they’d give me for turning you in? Father would be knocked off his pedestal, and  _ I’d _ be the one in charge.  Even if I just told them he let the skaa live long enough she  _ could _ have carried her poor, sweet baby to term— _ I’d _ be the one in charge.  And keep that in mind, boy, because this is only a small  _ sample _ of what happens if you wrong me.”  Talmoor’s seething with anger, Ezra knows—half the time he’s burning brass or zinc just to  _ see _ their emotions, never to touch them.  His brother pulls him up from the stone briefly before shoving him into it again, enough to make him cry out sharply again.  “So what are you going to do next time she’s here?”

“I– ignore her,” he gasps.  Talmoor wrenches him up by the back of his shirt, jerking him to his feet and slamming him back-first against the wall.

“That’s not enough.  What are you going to do?”  His brother punctuates the repeated question with a sharp, hard punch to his gut.

He knows what Talmoor wants.  And the quickest way to end this beating is by giving it to him.  “Make a– I’ll make a fool of myself, young– young master,” he coughs, blood spattering on the ground.

“Good.”  His brother punches him in the gut again and releases his collar, allowing Ezra to slump to the floor.  He trembles with leftover adrenaline, flinching away as Talmoor leans over him. “Get back to your corner, scum,” he spits.

Ezra nods weakly, already scrambling away from his brother.  Talmoor watches him the same way one would watch a bug, and follows him at a distance.  He braces himself for the blow but still yelps when it comes, the kick sending sparking pains up his side.  His brother watches him only a moment longer before leaving, door slamming behind him with a finality he wishes were true.


	3. sleep now child (beneath the heavy current)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezra takes a chance to help his daughter.
> 
> Prompt fill for “Blankets” for Feelstember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Sons and Daughters” by The American Spirit.
> 
> TW: Referenced Physical Abuse, Referenced Purposeful Child Neglect, Forced Separation of Parent and Child, Referenced Illness of Child, Referenced Near Death of Child

As long as Ezra can remember, he has had one blanket.

It’s been the same blanket, too.  Now, it’s barely more than rags; his father had said he would get him a new one if only to make sure his _weapon_ didn’t die of hypothermia in Luthadel’s cold winters.

The next day, however, Talmoor baited him into a fight again.  Ezra wasn’t sorry.

The promised blanket was never mentioned again.

* * *

Now, his daughter is four, and desperately needs a blanket of her own.

A bout of scarlet fever months ago had left Shai nearly dead and with most of the things she even _might_ have considered her own burned to prevent the disease spreading.  Ezra, too, had received a rare new set of clothes after his father had his clothes taken and burned (breaking quarantine, even to see _Shai,_ was apparently not allowed).  His father had not been amused.

Needless to say, Ezra learned very quickly not to break quarantine again.

Somehow his thread of a blanket had managed to survive the purge, however.  Maybe because ever since the fever he’d kept it tucked away in the loose rock in the wall, right over the shard of glass from an alcohol bottle Talmoor had forgotten to take out once after a beating.

(Ezra’s gotten rid of the glass by now.)

One time, he shoves the blanket into his pocket, hoping Talmoor won’t notice anything amiss the next time he searches Ezra.

For once, his hopes are answered.

Now, he only has to wait for Shai.

* * *

He’s allowed to see his daughter again a few weeks later.

The guard gets bored and dozes off while Shai’s telling Ezra a story about the birds she’s seen outside.  He remains enraptured while pulling out the ragged blanket, nodding and trying not to look back and double check that the guard is still asleep.  He waits until Shai pauses to take a breath before passing her the fabric silently.

“Daddy, what’s—“

“Quiet,” Ezra whispers.  He glances over his shoulder before looking back at her.  “It’s our secret, okay? Don’t tell any of them. Not even the other skaa.”

She hesitates before nodding eagerly, throwing small arms around him.  He smiles, hugging her back.

He wants to tell her it’ll be okay.  Except he knows it won’t, and he can’t lie to her.

But maybe, just for this moment, he can pretend it will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is exactly 400 words but I didn’t plan that and I only found that out post-editing lol.


End file.
